Photo by Will Yazdani
Jasmine Brett Stringer
Jasmine Brett Stringer, founder of #SHARETHEMICMN, Speaker, Lifestyle Expert, Author
Welcome to 2021, the year we finally move forward again. The only question now is, how? We interviewed some key Twin Cities stakeholders, community voices, and leaders who will be central to what happens–or doesn't–in the year to come.
“I’m heading into 2021 with momentum that I am thankful to have. It’s all about building on that. I am so grateful for everything that has come out of the ashes of this year,” says Jasmine Brett Stringer. “I’m ready to build and expand so that we don’t go back to our old ways.”
Stringer launched #SHARETHEMICMN on social media this year as a way to bring awareness to more women of color. The idea is simple: White people with large followings turn over their social media feeds for one day to a Black or brown woman, who then uses that platform to tell her story, in her own voice, to a new audience.
“I’ve always been a connector, and I understand the power of social community. This is my walk, my mission, a part of my purpose—being ‘in’ movement.”
—Jasmine Brett Stringer
“My last event before the pandemic was on March 14, when I emceed an event called Celebrating the Sistas,” Stringer says. “The keynote speaker, Dr. Verna Price, who is also a Black woman, made a point of saying, ‘Don’t just call on me and Jasmine in February for Black History Month or March for International Women’s Day.” And that was poignant because the phone rings off the hook for those two months, as it did this summer when everyone wanted a Black woman’s perspective, but we hustle all year. So while I’m thankful for the momentum right now, the questions we need to ask is, ‘Why didn’t you call me as a speaker last year? Why aren’t there Black women on your panels all the time?’”
She reminds everyone who participates in #SHARETHEMICMN that this is not a moment, it’s a movement.
“Because movements are sustained, and that’s how we have lasting impact,” she says. “I’m not new to this. I’ve always been a connector, and I understand the power of social community. This is my walk, my mission, a part of my purpose—being ‘in’ movement. When I committed to the idea of #SHARETHEMICMN and started sharing it with others, running it by them, I was moving it down the field. That’s how you create a movement: action.”
And motion is what Stringer wants for this campaign. While the first goal might have been awareness and the sharing of women’s stories and voices, the goal has to evolve.
“Now that people are aware that there are issues affecting a plethora of people across the platform, how do you begin to take action?” she asks. “And then, from that action, how do we really begin to advocate? Not just for what you need or your family needs, but for someone else? I am grateful for every time someone has said, ‘Hey, have you thought about hiring Jasmine as a speaker?’ That’s advocacy. We need more of that. And not just for Black and brown people but for our state and our cities. We all need it.”
This article originally appeared in the January 2021 issue.
